Aslam Gacet
Aslam Gacet, baptized Francesc Gacet, was the secretary of Pope Alexander VI and, later, a diplomat of the Ottoman Empire. He was a trusted adviser and close friend of the Pope, but he hid dark secrets such as his Muslim birth and his homosexuality. In 1501, after Pope Alexander discovered him kissing Cardinal Francesco Alidosi, he fired Gacet, who was replaced as secretary by Aurelio Borgia Matuzzi, the Pope's grandson. Biography Francesc Gacet was born in Aragon, the bastard son of a Mudejar (a Muslim allowed to live in Christian Spain) whore, abandoned by her fellow Muslims after the Reconquista; his birth name was "Aslam Gacet". His father was the steward of the Borgia estate in Valencia, where he met Rodrigo Borgia; Borgia witnessed Gacet's baptism as a Catholic in 1449. He was hired as Cardinal Borgia's secretary, having known each other since they were young. Gacet was the source of Borgia's most trusted advice, and he was also sent to perform several errands for him; in 1492, he convinced Queen Isabella of Castile to accept Cesare Borgia's appointment as Bishop of Valencia, and he would often accompany him in public to serve as his adviser. Fall from grace 's service]]After the death of Juan Borgia the Younger in 1497, Gacet gained more influence, and Cardinals Raffaele Riario, Giuliano Della Rovere, Ascanio Sforza, Alessandro Farnese, and Giovanni Colonna decided to plot to discredit him. Farnese was sent to uncover Gacet's darkest secret in order to blackmail him. Cardinal Bartolomeo Flores accused him of touching his penis after saying that he reminded him of Donatello's David, and Gacet decried these accusations as lies; nevertheless, he told the Pope to imprison him, or else the Pope would also lose the support of the people. Gacet was imprisoned in Terra Nuova for "sodomy", but he was set free after Flores said that he did not force himself upon him; he was to be rewarded with an archbishopric. However, the Pope pressured Flores into admitting that he had made a false accusation (either that, or face sodomy charges), and Flores replaced Gacet in his prison cell, while Gacet was reinstated as Papal secretary. Later, Gacet confessed to the Pope that he had vile thoughts at times, but the Pope told him that all thoughts are holy, as God created people with the ability to think; he cared not about Gacet's homosexuality. Gacet later became lovers with Cardinal Della Rovere's secretary Francesco Alidosi, who he constantly suspected of being a spy. In 1500, he was fired after the Pope discovered Gacet and Alidosi's love affair, and this greatly distressed the Pope. Aurelio Borgia Matuzzi was appointed the new Papal secretary a year later. Ottoman service After being fired from the Pope's court, Gacet embraced his Islamic heritage, reverted to Islam, and became an emmissary for Sultan Bayezid II. In 1501, he arrived at the court of Pope Alexander VI as a representative from the Ottoman Empire, and he refused to be dismissed by the Pope, telling him that dismissing the Ottoman ambassador was dismissing the Padishah himself. The Pope had the room vacated and attempted to bribe Gacet into retiring, but Gacet claimed that this was another insult; he also informed the Pope that Bayezid knew of his "perversities", and that Bayezid had his own. He felt that he had a special obligation to the Sultan, although he told the Pope that he would have died for him. He then proceeded to present the Pope with the rarest gems of the Ottoman Empire, and the Pope told him that, while he would denounce Gacet publicly, his presence gave him relief as his world crumbled (his daughter Lucrezia Borgia was lost to Alfonso d'Este). Category:Ottoman politicians Category:Ottomans Category:Politicians Category:Papal States Category:Papal diplomats Category:Moors Category:Aragonese Category:Catalans Category:Spanish Category:Catholics Category:Sunnis Category:LGBT people Category:Servants